1978 Yukon general election

The 1978 Yukon general election was held on November 20, 1978, was the first conventional legislative election in the history of Canada's Yukon Territory. Prior elections were held to elect representatives to the Yukon Territorial Council, a non-partisan body that acted in an advisory role to the Commissioner of the Yukon. Following the passage of the Yukon Elections Act in 1977, the 1978 election was the first time that voters in the Yukon elected representatives to the Yukon Legislative Assembly in an election organized along political party lines.

Hilda Watson, the first woman ever to lead a political party into an election in Canada, was the leader of the Progressive Conservatives. Although the party won the election, Watson herself was defeated in Kluane by Liberal candidate Alice McGuire, and thus did not become government leader. The position of government leader instead went to Chris Pearson.

New Democratic leader Fred Berger was also defeated in his own riding. He remained leader of the party until 1981, when he was succeeded by the party's sole elected MLA, Tony Penikett. Under Penikett's leadership, an MLA who had been elected as an independent in 1978 joined the NDP, and the party won a by-election. With its caucus increased to three members, the NDP had thus supplanted the Liberals as the official opposition by the time of the 1982 election.

Results by Party
! rowspan="2" colspan="2" style="text-align:left;"|Party ! rowspan="2" style="text-align:left;"|Party leader !rowspan="2"| Candidates ! colspan="4" style="text-align:center;"|Seats !colspan="3" style="text-align:center;"|Popular vote
 * - style="background:#ccc;"
 * - style="background:#ccc;"
 * style="text-align:center;"|1974
 * style="text-align:center;font-size: 80%;"|Dissol.
 * style="text-align:center;"|1978
 * style="text-align:center;"|Change
 * style="text-align:center;"|#
 * style="text-align:center;"|%
 * style="text-align:center;"|Change


 * align=left|Hilda Watson
 * align="right"|15
 * align="right"|0
 * align="right"|0
 * align="right"|11
 * align="right"|+11
 * align="right"|2,869
 * align="right"|37.10%
 * align="right"|N/A


 * align=left|Iain MacKay
 * align="right"|14
 * align="right"|0
 * align="right"|0
 * align="right"|2
 * align="right"|+2
 * align="right"|2,201
 * align="right"|28.46%
 * align="right"|N/A


 * colspan="2" style="text-align:left;"|Independent
 * align="right"|9
 * align="right"|12
 * align="right"|12
 * align="right"|2
 * align="right"|-10
 * align="right"|1,096
 * align="right"|14.17%
 * align="right"|N/A


 * align=left|Fred Berger
 * align="right"|14
 * align="right"|0
 * align="right"|0
 * align="right"|1
 * align="right"|+1
 * align="right"|1,568
 * align="right"|20.27%
 * align="right"|N/A
 * style="text-align:left;" colspan="3"|Total
 * style="text-align:right;"|52
 * style="text-align:right;"|12
 * style="text-align:right;"|12
 * style="text-align:right;"|16
 * style="text-align:right;"|+4
 * style="text-align:right;"|7,734
 * style="text-align:right;"|100.00%
 * style="text-align:right;"|
 * }
 * }

Incumbents not Running for Reelection
The following MLAs had announced that they would not be running in the 1978 election:

Independent
 * Flo Whyard (Whitehorse West)
 * Willard Phelps (Whitehorse Riverdale)

Results by Riding
Bold indicates party leaders

† - denotes a retiring incumbent MLA

61 120 65 184 231 361 209 83 159 44 152 130 114 150 188 49 95 84 82 85 62 29 19 109 71 83 226 188 153 83 131 141 322 202 84 188 142 60 358 194 59 354 420 113 245 197 122 185 200 230 81 Guy Julien 37
 * style="background:whitesmoke;"|Campbell
 * Don McIntosh
 * Don McIntosh
 * Don McIntosh
 * Blake Stirling Macdonald
 * Blake Stirling Macdonald
 * Margaret Thomson
 * Margaret Thomson
 * Robert Fleming
 * Robert Fleming
 * New District
 * style="background:whitesmoke;"|Faro
 * Stuart McCall
 * style="background:whitesmoke;"|Faro
 * Stuart McCall
 * Stuart McCall
 * Stuart McCall
 * Stuart McCall
 * Stuart McCall
 * Stuart McCall
 * Maurice Byblow
 * Maurice Byblow
 * New District
 * style="background:whitesmoke;"|Hootalinqua
 * Al Falle
 * style="background:whitesmoke;"|Hootalinqua
 * Al Falle
 * Al Falle
 * Mike Laforet
 * Mike Laforet
 * Max Fraser
 * Max Fraser
 * Mack Henry
 * Mack Henry
 * Robert Fleming
 * style="background:whitesmoke;"|Klondike
 * Meg McCall
 * style="background:whitesmoke;"|Klondike
 * Meg McCall
 * Meg McCall
 * Fred Berger
 * Fred Berger
 * Fred Berger
 * Fred Berger
 * Eleanor Millard
 * Eleanor Millard
 * Fred Berger
 * style="background:whitesmoke;"|Kluane
 * Hilda Watson
 * style="background:whitesmoke;"|Kluane
 * Hilda Watson
 * Hilda Watson
 * Alice McGuire
 * Alice McGuire
 * John Livesey
 * John Livesey
 * John Livesey
 * John Livesey
 * Hilda Watson
 * style="background:whitesmoke;"|Mayo
 * Swede Hanson
 * style="background:whitesmoke;"|Mayo
 * Swede Hanson
 * Swede Hanson
 * Gordon McIntyre
 * Gordon McIntyre
 * Alan McDiarmid
 * Alan McDiarmid
 * David Harwood
 * David Harwood
 * Gordon McIntyre
 * style="background:whitesmoke;"|Old Crow
 * Grafton Njootli
 * style="background:whitesmoke;"|Old Crow
 * Grafton Njootli
 * Grafton Njootli
 * Edith Tizya
 * Edith Tizya
 * Robert Bruce
 * Robert Bruce
 * New District
 * style="background:whitesmoke;"|Tatchun
 * Howard Tracey
 * New District
 * style="background:whitesmoke;"|Tatchun
 * Howard Tracey
 * Howard Tracey
 * Howard Tracey
 * Hugh Netzel
 * Hugh Netzel
 * Jerry Roberts
 * Jerry Roberts
 * New District
 * style="background:whitesmoke;"|Watson Lake
 * Don Taylor
 * New District
 * style="background:whitesmoke;"|Watson Lake
 * Don Taylor
 * Don Taylor
 * Don Taylor
 * Grant Taylor
 * Grant Taylor
 * Don Taylor
 * style="background:whitesmoke;"|Whitehorse North Centre
 * Geoff Lattin
 * Don Taylor
 * style="background:whitesmoke;"|Whitehorse North Centre
 * Geoff Lattin
 * style="background:whitesmoke;"|Whitehorse North Centre
 * Geoff Lattin
 * Geoff Lattin
 * Geoff Lattin
 * Dermot Flynn
 * Dermot Flynn
 * Doug Stephenson
 * Doug Stephenson
 * Ken McKinnon
 * Ken McKinnon
 * Ken McKinnon
 * style="background:whitesmoke;"|Whitehorse Porter Creek East
 * Dan Lang
 * style="background:whitesmoke;"|Whitehorse Porter Creek East
 * Dan Lang
 * Dan Lang
 * Bill Webber
 * Bill Webber
 * Paul Warner
 * Paul Warner
 * New District
 * style="background:whitesmoke;"|Whitehorse Porter Creek West
 * Doug Graham
 * New District
 * style="background:whitesmoke;"|Whitehorse Porter Creek West
 * Doug Graham
 * Doug Graham
 * Doug Graham
 * Clive Tanner
 * Clive Tanner
 * Kathy Horton
 * Kathy Horton
 * New District
 * style="background:whitesmoke;"|Whitehorse Riverdale North
 * Chris Pearson
 * New District
 * style="background:whitesmoke;"|Whitehorse Riverdale North
 * Chris Pearson
 * Chris Pearson
 * Chris Pearson
 * Richard Rotondo
 * Richard Rotondo
 * Dave Dornian
 * Dave Dornian
 * New District
 * style="background:whitesmoke;"|Whitehorse Riverdale South
 * Margaret Heath
 * New District
 * style="background:whitesmoke;"|Whitehorse Riverdale South
 * Margaret Heath
 * Margaret Heath
 * Margaret Heath
 * Iain MacKay
 * Iain MacKay
 * Jim McCullough
 * Jim McCullough
 * New District
 * style="background:whitesmoke;"|Whitehorse South Centre
 * Jack Hibberd
 * New District
 * style="background:whitesmoke;"|Whitehorse South Centre
 * Jack Hibberd
 * Jack Hibberd
 * Jack Hibberd
 * Bert Law
 * Bert Law
 * Ken Krocker
 * Ken Krocker
 * Jack Hibberd
 * style="background:whitesmoke;"|Whitehorse West
 * Anthony Fekete
 * Jack Hibberd
 * style="background:whitesmoke;"|Whitehorse West
 * Anthony Fekete
 * Anthony Fekete
 * Anthony Fekete
 * John Watt
 * John Watt
 * Tony Penikett
 * Tony Penikett
 * Al Omotani
 * Al Omotani
 * Flo Whyard†
 * }
 * }

Aftermath
After the election, four of the elected members in the Progressive Conservative Party, including Chris Pearson, were added to the Executive Committee headed by Commissioner Art Pearson. In October 1979, at the instruction of Jake Epp, Federal Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development, the Commissioner withdrew from direct government administration; Chris Pearson became Government Leader (equal to Premier), added a fifth member of the PC Party caucus, and formed the Executive Council of Yukon, thus beginning responsible government with an elected head of government in The Yukon. Art Pearson would later resign as Commissioner after pleading guilty to charges related to improper mining claim transfers and was replaced with Frank Fingland.